Conservation: Story

Story Posted
03-14-2013

Red Tide Bloom Affecting Manatees Along Southwest Florida Coast

(David Schrichte/Savethemantees.org photo)' title='Kayakers demonstrate the best way to view manatees in the wild: from a distance.Please don't touch manatees or give them food or water.(David Schrichte/Savethemantees.org photo)'/>
Kayakers demonstrate the best way to view manatees in the wild: from a distance.Please don't touch manatees or give them food or water.(David Schrichte/Savethemantees.org photo)

A red-tide event in southwest Florida has claimed 174 manatees
so far this year. Although results are preliminary, this is the highest number
of red-tide-related deaths in a single calendar year on record.

State and federal scientists are monitoring and responding to manatees affected
by the ongoing red tide bloom along the southwest Florida coast.

To help with these efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) and
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) ask the public to
be on the lookout for manatees affected by red tide. Signs that a manatee is
affected by red tide include a lack of coordination and stability in the water,
muscle twitches or seizures and difficulty lifting its head to breathe.

With help from citizens in the area, the FWC and partners have rescued 12
manatees suffering from the effects of red tide so far this year. The public is
asked to report manatees showing the effects of red tide, and any other
distressed or dead manatees, to the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at
888-404-FWCC (3922).

State and federal scientists are collecting and analyzing data aimed at better
understanding the long-term impacts of this ongoing event on the manatee
population and the impacts of other events including extreme cold snaps from
2009-2011. Manatees are listed as an endangered species under the Endangered
Species Act of 1973.

Decades of conservation efforts by many partners have led to population
increases, as shown in population models. The growth of the population, and the
many conservation measures implemented by the state of Florida, led the Service
to begin work on a proposed rule that would reclassify the manatee from
Endangered to Threatened, which reflects the overall improved status.

"We are working with the FWC along with other researchers and state
partners to assess what is needed immediately in response to this event, as
well as what this and other recent events may or may not mean for manatee
recovery," said Leopoldo Miranda, assistant regional director for
Ecological Services in the USFWS's Southeast Regional Office. "Our
priority remains the animals, not the process."

Since first detecting the red tide bloom in late September, the FWC has worked
with partners to monitor the bloom and provide up-to-date information to the
public about its status.

The latest statewide red tide status report is available at MyFWC.com/Research, under "Red Tide Current Status."